Ben Franklin in Paris
A Revolutionary Musical in Concert
Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of America’s Independence
54 Below, NYC, September 13, 2026
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Ben Franklin in Paris was a musical comedy about the eponymous hero seeking to get recognition for the struggling colonies from the royal government of France. It was a work mostly serving as a vehicle for Robert Preston, who was still riding high from his surprise success with The Music Man. With a book and lyrics by Sidney Michaels and music by Mark Sandrich Jr. (with an unbilled assist by Jerry Herman), it was a moderate failure that lived on mostly via the cast recording. Like many such records, it preserved what was best about the production and hid many of its serious flaws, such as a rambling and less-than-involving story. Actor/director/producer Walter Willison decided that a staged reading of the show was the perfect vehicle to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country. The results were a mixed bag.
The script was edited to fit a just-under 90-minute running time, which including eliminating the character of Franklin’s younger grandchild, but edits could had gone even further. The subplot of Temple Franklin (Keaton Miller) and his romance with a would-be revolutionary actress (Zoe Parrish) have always been the skip-over tracks on the recording. Did we really need another Paris song not written by Cole Porter? While the two young performers were charming, they weren’t helped by having most of their numbers staged in the audience rather than on the stage. Concentrating on Franklin, his political machinations, and his on-and-off romance with Diane de Vobrillac (Ann Kittredge) would have been enough; there two had the best songs.
Willison understandably cast himself in the title role. He demonstrated the charm and wit of the character, although he could also have contributed a bit more energy. Kittredge possessed even more charm and wit, and, of course, her quite lovely soprano to such numbers as “To Be Alone with You” and “How Laughable It Is.” James Woods served as music director and martialed the large cast through some very complicated choral arrangements, such as for the gorgeous opener “We Sail the Seas.”
Also in the cast were Keith Crowningshield, Timothy Jerome, Ron Spivak, Melinda Hopkins, and Sheila Wormer. They all did what they could with ill-defined single-scene roles in the too busy script. A major rethinking of the material would have paid off and would have lifting the show above the disappointing category.
